A Second Chance
by lovesmesomebooth
Summary: She's heartbroken, and he's concerned. He tries to be there for her, but she won't let him. Set after "Skull in the Desert" so spoilers are there for it and well after. Rated T just to be safe.
1. He's gone

**A/N: This is my first (and most likely only) fic. I'm not sure how long it's going to be. I wanted to have it complete before I posted this whole thing, but like I said, I'm not so sure how long it's going to be. I'm not even certain I know what I'm doing on this site, so bear with me. I'm pretty sure the characters are a little OOC, but this is something I needed/wanted to get out of my head. This is set after "The Skull In The Desert" so if you haven't seen it, then you may not want to may contain stuff after that, as well as way into season 2, so read at own accord. It's been a while since I've seen those episodes, so things may be off, and now that this is the longest A/N I'll let you all read.**

Angela Montenegro woke up in a cold sweat as she realized, once again, that Kirk is never coming back. This is the eighth time this week, and it was only Wednesday. It's becoming a habit that once she finally shakes the negative images out of her head, she slowly thinks back to the good things and slips into a semi-deep sleep, only to be driven awake by the lifeless images again and again. The dreams come in different forms, at different times, but always end the same. Sometimes the images even show up in her day dreams. When she's at work and listening to her friends carry on about "tibula" this or "broken femur" that, the thoughts creep into her subconscious. She will never again see his smiling face, or feel that loving touch of him brushing her hair from just above her eyes as she sits in the stillness pouring her heart and soul into another drawing. Considering it is now 5:30 a.m she figures she might as well get ready and head into work. She can take her time in her morning routine and stop for coffee on the way in.

Having the spirit of Angela Montenegro, she tries not to let the sadness show. As she looks through the lab at nothing in particular, she sees Kirk taking pictures of something that she can't quite make out, but knows that he found something special as his eyes light up and he gets this look about him. His stance changes, his whole body seems to move in this airy way that she just cannot describe. He has the most gorgeous smile on his face, and it's apparently contagious, because Angela can feel the smile muscles begin to work. A feeling she hasn't felt in a long time. It almost pains her, but to see Kirk move the way he does when he photographs the perfect image, you can't help but smile along with him. The smile then fades, almost as quickly as it appeared, for if you follow her eyes, she's actually watching Hodgins as he has just discovered the cause of death of yet another faceless victim that has come through the doors of the Jeffersonian.

"It's weird how both Kirk and Jack almost have the same air about them when something goes their way." Angela said to no one in particular. She's trying to snap out of it. She's caught herself staring yet again and there's no telling what Jack will think if he catches her. It hasn't been but a few months since Kirk left, but she can't betray him like that. Not that staring at Jack would be betraying Kirk, but she doesn't want to lead him on. Her heart isn't ready. Besides, they work together. She goes back into her office. No place is safe from the thoughts, but maybe if she can get into her work, she can cry a little less tonight, well, about Kirk anyway.

Inputting the last few details into the "Angelator" she hears footsteps coming into her office. She smells his cologne before he even rounds the corner, but she plays coy. She's not flirting, but letting him think he has the upper hand. It's always nice to feed into his male ego every once and a while. She tries to hide her smile, but Jack was apparently too quick on the draw.

"So, either you heard me coming, or you're playing a very amusing game of connect the dots" Jacks says with a bemused smile on his face.

"You don't step as lightly as you may think, ya know" Ange tells Jack, trying her hardest to grin at him, the way she used to, but it's just not quite reaching her eyes. And he notices.

"I saw you out in the lab earlier. Ange, you know…" She cut him off

"I didn't mean for it to look like I was staring at you, I swear. Sometimes, I can just….just…oh, nevermind" She looks away trying to fiddle with the control of the Angelator, for just something to occupy herself with.

"Ange" Jack takes the few steps to close the distance between them "I knew you weren't staring at me, I could tell you were focused on something, and my bugs and slime are not that interesting, well, to you anyway" he smirks at her. Hopefully his slight attempt at a joke would get her to smile again. It almost works, but it's not the same, radiating Angela Montenegro smile that he's used to.

"Jack, it was nothing, I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all. It's nothing for you to worry yourself over, I promise" she tells him as she tries her hardest to smile her biggest smile for him. Whether he bought it or not, she wasn't so sure. He looked like he might have, but he was giving her a look, and she wasn't so sure what it meant.

"You know, if you ever need anything, Ange, I'm around. To talk, to listen, hang out, whatever you need." Jack told her as he headed around the corner. He gave her one last smile and then he was out of sight. She sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was to voice everything in her head, and the way Jack looked at her, she was sure it wouldn't take but a couple more words coming from her favorite entomologist and the beans would have been spilled. She wonders, as she continues tweaking the images in the hologram, what could happen if her inner most thoughts were ever vocalized. How would he look at her? How would he act around her? If he knew, would he still talk to her?


	2. Bringing it all back

He walked away from her, but he really didn't want to. He doesn't want to push the issue, so Jack Hodgins bides his time until he can fully get her to open up. Usually, the forensic artist got under his skin. Many times he would pop that god-forsaken rubber band around his wrist at the mere sight of her, because he knew that she would inevitably say something that would just get him wound up. For some reason, lately, he's seen her in a different light. Even before Kirk. He knew she was "quirky" but that just took some getting used to. Now that they've been working together for some time, she's been growing on him. He can't place when it happened, but it happened none the less. Seeing Ange come back from her vacation very much heartbroken kind of took a toll on him. He would never want her in pain, but to see how she's been acting, it just broke his heart. He could not imagine what she has been going through, but he knows that he would never want to. No one should experience the loss of a loved one, especially at such a young age and at such a tragic means. He would gladly take her pain, if it meant her happiness again.

He walks back to his work station deep in thought. He has to do something to get that smile back on her face. He never really realized how much her happiness meant to the whole of their working relationship. He usually saw her as overly bubbly and almost annoying. Now that she's not nearly as cheery, he knows that they, as a whole, need the old Angela Montenegro back. He can see Zack falter as his "life" coach hasn't been helping him out nearly as much as he would like. Jack smiles to himself, poor little Zack doesn't know what to do. He almost feels sorry for him. He can see that Angela hasn't exactly thrown herself fully into "team Booth" with Dr. Brennan. He could tell that Dr. Brennan was thankful for that, but almost sad that she never had to defend their "partnership" on a daily basis. This was the last straw for Jack. Something had to be done to restore the wonderful artist. She spent her time giving people their smiling faces back; it's time for Jack Hodgins to do some facial reconstructing of his own.

Smiling into his microscope, he feels a set of eyes on him yet again. He doesn't have to turn to know who it is. He knows she's not staring at him, intentionally, but he smiles all that much bigger knowing that he is going to do what he can to get their loving, carefree artist back. As he moves a different slide into his microscope, he hears a voice he wasn't expecting.

"What exactly are you grinning at, because I'm pretty sure that Dr. Brennan wouldn't think that those maggots that were found at the scene are that amusing" the voice of the young, often misunderstood Zack Addy spouted.

"I can multitask, you know. I can look at these slides, and have a different train of thought at the same time. I'm working out a plan in my head, and it just came to me, so I'm smiling. Have YOU discovered cause of death? Because I'm pretty sure I'm….."

"Don't you even say it!" Zack calls over his shoulder as he heads off to inspect the bones all that much closer. Jack just continues his smile. It's always fun poking at Zack. Sometimes, though, he makes it a little too easy.

Throughout the day, he can tell that Angela's mood is diminishing. When she has nothing to do, her thoughts get to her and he can tell when she's not entirely there. Again, he can't figure out when he began to read her so well, but he's glad he's starting to pick up on it. He watches as she heads out of her office and he decides then that phase one is to begin. As soon as she heads to Dr. Brennan's office, he heads into hers. He finds a scrap piece of paper lying on her desk and scribbles what he needs to. He leaves the note on top of her sketch pad, where she's sure to see it. As quickly and quietly as he entered, he left. He heads back to his station to shut everything off. He heads into his office, not noticing that after Angela leaves Brennan's, she walks with her arm and arm out the front doors of the Jeffersonian. As Jack shuts the lights off in his office, he doesn't notice that the slight breeze of the circulating air has shifted the note underneath Angela's desk. He smiles as he walks out the doors. Yes, he will soon get that smile back onto Ange's face, and he can't wait until it's genuine again.


	3. Thinking it out

**A/N Sorry if things are a little confusing or if characters are OOC. I'm still trying my hand at this whole fanfic thing. I'm not the type to beg for reviews, because I'm writing for me. If you do see an issue, however, you can feel free to let me know. Happy reading!**

With a heavy sigh, Ange steps away from the Angelator and moves to the couch in her office. With the smell of Jack's cologne still lingering in the air she takes a deep breath.

"I have got to put a lock on my box of feelings. I can't just go blurting out everything that's in my very shattered heart. For one, no one would understand. For two, well, I'm not even sure I understand, and having too many people privy to my thoughts, it just can't be good" Ange is for once glad that her office is so spaced out, otherwise someone would for sure think she had gone crazy as she's talking to herself.

She stares out into the lab once again, this time trying to figure out what the look in Jack's eyes was conveying. She watches him work as she wonders what exactly was going through his mind. Thinking about what he was going to say before she cut him off. She knows she's staring again and that this time it is at him, but he can't possibly know, so what's the harm. She somehow feels drawn to him. She can see herself looking past his bugs and slime and into those piercing blue eyes of his straight into his soul. It scares her, but intrigues her at the same time.

She watches as Zack and Hodgins interact. She feels compelled to take Zack under wing as best she can and introduce him to the human race. He's not as unaware as Brennan, but he still needs a lot of work. She sees Zack scurry off and knows that he and Jack are getting into their normal debate over who is better and faster at their job. They call it "king of the lab" everyone else just calls it silly. No one cares but them. It's still fun to watch them. They feed off of each other, and they make each other better.

"There really is no better place to work, despite all the death, and no better people to work with" again, talking to herself, but no one is around.

Having the final images of their latest victim, she leaves the comfort of her office, to head to her best friend's.

"As unaware as Brennan can be, I could use the distraction" Angela says during the few feet it takes to walk to the office of Dr. Brennan.

As she turns the corner, she can see that Brennan is on the phone, so she just walks into her office. Brennan turns and holds up her index finger, indicating that she will be off the phone momentarily. Ange sits on the couch that is next to the door and leans her head back, closing her eyes, taking in the quietness of the large office. Even though Brennan is on the phone, she can barely hear anything. She thinks of what it was to love Kirk. She thinks of those three weeks every year when she didn't have to deal with giving some poor innocent their identity and was able to have her own back. She thinks of what it would have been like to have those three weeks a year every single day for the rest of her life. Sometimes she wished she could have just a quarter of the rationale that Brennan had. Then maybe she would know what to do with the millions of feelings spinning in her head. She opens her eyes and sees Temperance standing over her. Apparently she had been calling her name at least four times.

"I was beginning to wonder if you had taken a sleeping pill and fell asleep in my office. I don't have much time, Booth needs me to bring by some files on the case that we're working on, but you seem like you need to talk."

"Sweetie, if you're busy I can come back another time, it's no big deal." That's not what she really meant, but she knew how dedicated Brennan was to her work. Not to mention, she knew that if Temperance didn't see Booth at least twice a day, she would get antsy. Not like she would admit it, but some things a girl just knows about her best friend. A small smile creeps on her face….busted!

"I really don't want to know what you're smiling at, do I? Anyway I was going to meet him at the diner. He should be a little longer than it would take for us to get there, so we can walk and talk, this way you can get what you need to out in the open" Trying a hand at this whole 'people' thing was new to her, and she wasn't really sure she was doing it right.

"Thanks, Bren, I really do think that it will help. Only if you're sure, though, I don't want to intrude on your Booth time." Ange managed to hold back the smile that she knew would get her in trouble.

The classic 'I don't know what that means' was close to her lips, but she shrugged and attempted a "it's no problem" instead.

As they left Dr. Brennan's office, Ange linked her arm with Temperance's. She really didn't know what to say to her, or how much of her feelings she should air out, but with Brennan, she was sure that no more than was necessary was going to pop out. Analytical things would keep most of things at bay for Temperance was more than likely going to interrupt most of what she was going to say anyway. At that, Ange grinned as they headed out of the doors of the Jeffersonian.


	4. Fresh Air

**Not sure if anyone is still waiting for this story, but I'm back. Not sure if it's with a vengeance, but I'm back none the less. I think I'm slowly starting to figure out where I'm heading and how I need/want to write. Again, I'm not good with this whole writing FF so bear with me. I'm more of a reader of this stuff than a writer (obviously) I'm more than likely bringing later seasons back to earlier seasons, so I'm sure the mentioning of Parker doesn't coincide with the placement of the story. **

The more they walked in the fresh D.C air, the less Ange felt like talking. Once things were said, they couldn't be unsaid. They couldn't be taken back. As good as anyone is at compartmentalizing, there's no way anyone could forget they heard something. No, this time Ange was going to be the rational one. She wasn't even sure of her own feelings, how was she expecting anyone to understand them when she herself didn't. Brennan was reading through some files, so it's not like she was begging her to come clean. Ange decided then and there that things were better left in her head. Brennan would be none the wiser, and maybe she can push Bren and Booth into something…..more.

The 'ding' of the bell over the door to the diner was just about the only thing that could get Brennan's attention. She put the papers she was looking through back into their folder and walked through the familiar doors. Angela and Brennan walked to a table and sat down. Brennan looked at her watch, concluding that she was in fact correct that they would arrive before Booth.

"Sweetie, before you say anything, it's okay. I guess a walk in the fresh air was all I really needed. Besides, Studly just walked in and I know you guys need to "talk". The way she smirked and wiggled her eyebrows made Brennan uneasy, but she had no clue what any of that meant, other than the talking part. Ange stood up and walked toward the door, stopping briefly to touch Brennan's arm, "Really Sweetie, I'm okay." Before she left the diner she enveloped Booth in a warm, friendly hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey, Ange, you're not staying?" A genuine smile and a small shaking of her head was the only response. And with that, Ange was out the door. Booth watched her even after she was gone wondering how she could be coping as well as she seemed to be with everything that had happened. He didn't know what he would do if he lost anyone he was in love with. As if the word "love" was some emitting kind of signal in his brain he turned and found Bones sitting at their table staring at him. She looked as though she called his name several times and was in the process of standing up when he finally turned. He took the remaining steps toward her and sat down.

"Hey Bones, do you know how Ange is doing, I mean with the Kirk thing and all?" He noticed her slightly confused look and wondered if he was imagining it. Quickly the confusion faded and she regained her composure.

"She seems okay to me, Booth. Although you know I don't do that well at reading people. That's more of your department than mine."

"Right, right," he just nodded his head in deep thought. Genuine concern was placed for their forensic artist. He'd lost many people he cared for at different points in his life. Losing had many different definitions, and he knows that if something happened to Rebecca, even now he wouldn't be okay, but that was probably more for Parker's sake than his own. He knew what it was to have someone die and leave his life forever. The service was good for that, especially his line of work. It's generally inevitable someone goes outside that wire, they may not come back. But losing a friend and losing a lover was like comparing apples to sauerkraut. There is no such comparison. He slowly broke out of his haze and stared at Brennan. Bones. He wondered what he would do if something were to happen to her. He knew what he felt in that hospital bed when he realized Kenton was going to hurt her. He knew what it was when he was heading to her apartment to make sure Epps was nowhere near her. He wasn't sure what exactly it was that he felt, but he knew that if Bones was gone, he would probably be walking around like Angela had been, only worse.

Booth began throwing a straw wrapper at Bones to get her attention. Somewhere between him sitting down and his thoughts she pulled out some paper work and began reading.

"Really Booth, all you had to do was mention my name and I would've looked up. Throwing paper was not necessary," she slowly pulled the wrapper from her hair, trying to glare at Booth but noticed the boyish grin on his face, "You look like Parker when you do that. Come to think of it, this is something someone his age might do." She dropped her eyes from his trying not to get caught up in them. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she couldn't glare at him. The boyish charm worked, and she hated it.

"Come on Bones, let's head to the Hoover and get some of this paper work knocked out. You need to get out of the lab" He noticed the look of protest approaching her face, "Nope, no complaints out of you, the sooner it's done, the sooner we can come up with a better suspect list." He stood and motioned for her to do the same. Reluctantly she stood, grabbing the case file she brought with her. As she stepped in front of him he placed his right hand at the small of her back and gently guided her out the door and toward his SUV.


	5. Finding comfort in panic

She walked back as slowly as she could. The Jeffersonian never seemed as close as it did right now. All Ange wanted was some time to think. Or to not think as the case was. Thinking just brought the demons around. Everyone danced around the subject of Kirk and it drove her crazy. No one came around to check if she was okay. They would ask each other if they knew how she was, but never to her directly. No one wanted to ask her how she was. Sure, they DID ask her, but it was more to be polite. They didn't want to talk about him, or his death. Or any death for that matter, which was hard given their profession. Any time a case that even slightly resembled Kirk's, they would walk on egg shells every time she stepped into the room. Except Brennan. She could count on her to remain the same. Everyone else treated her with kid gloves. It's like they were afraid to get their hands dirty. Get into the muck and the grime. Get to understand someone. Show some feelings. Let someone bare their soul and not run away. Whether she wanted to talk about Kirk or not talk about Kirk, she needed someone who was going to stick with her through everything. Let her talk when she wanted to talk. Let her cry when she needed to cry. Let her laugh when she ran out of tears, and to laugh along with her. That's all she wanted. Someone to accept her, and to let her be human again, flaws and all.

The more she thought of what she needed, the clearer the picture became in her head. His eyes never seemed as blue as when he was in the same room as her. Granted she couldn't know that for sure, because how can you see someone's eyes when you're not in the same room with them? But she knew, she could tell by the way he would act when she would walk into the room. He stood a little taller, held his head a little higher. She could almost smell his cologne, the smell that was, well it was just him. She could almost feel his gentle touch on her shoulder as he would stand over her at her desk, just trying to get her to smile. She started to smile and slowly raised her hand to her shoulder and stopped dead in her tracks when she felt said hand.

If she were Brennan, he would've been laying flat on his stomach with his arm so far up his back he could've seen the smallest of lines in his palm. But she was Angela Montenegro. So she just stood there. Panic and comfort, can those be felt at the same time? She wasn't sure what exactly was happening even when she felt fingers interlacing with hers and saw a set of brown curls come into view. Her breathing started to get back to normal. She regained movement to her body, and with that movement she hauled off and slapped the adorable looking entomologist. People stared, Ange laughed, and so did Jack, though he was nursing his jaw, he still laughed.

"Geez, Ange, was that necessary?" The gleam in his eyes showed that he was sort of expecting it, but mostly that he was glad she was laughing.

"Hodgie. You scared the living crap out of me!" She could feel her cheeks turn slightly red. She didn't know if it was from the "near death experience", or the fact that he was still holding her hand. She didn't really mind the latter.

"I've been calling you. For about 3 blocks now. I was heading to the diner to grab a little something and I saw you turn the corner." He tried to suppress a smile. They were still holding hands.

"Sorry, guess I was just lost in my own thoughts" Her mind drifted for a second, wondering if her thoughts were appropriate. Wondering if she were allowed to be standing in the middle of the sidewalk, hand in hand with Jack Hodgins.

"I thought you were getting lunch with Dr. B, you guys haven't been gone that long, you eat already?" Still giddy about her hand in his, he managed to let out a small smile.

"We got there and Booth showed up, and you know how distracted Bren gets when Booth is around. I figured I'd let them do their thing. I'm not really hungry anyways." Her smile got a little bigger at the thought of the "twisted tango" Booth and Brennan were dancing. They were so meant for each other.

"Well, I'm gonna get something for Zack and I, you wanna come with?" Jack turned to motion walking in the opposite direction.

Ange slipped her hands from his, feeling the slight resistance in his fingers. She the looped her arm into Jack's and followed his lead. They walked without saying another word. Jack was content with his position of escorting the most beautiful heartbroken woman he knew. Well, heartbroken or not, the most beautiful woman in the world. Ange was content in feeling something other than loneliness or pain.


End file.
